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By the way …

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. I am known by my pseudonym, Nasifriet, a concatenated word blend of the Malay or Indonesian word Nasi (rice) and the Flemish or Dutch word Friet (fries). I was born and raised in Sarawak a.k.a the Land of the Hornbills, which is one of the 13 states in Malaysia. I moved to Belgium in the autumn of 1995. My other half is a Belgian (Flemish) and I have 2 sons. I work fulltime by day and blog whenever I have the time, energy and inspiration. If you don’t see my posts published for ages, chances are I’m dog-tired after a hard day at work or I’m on holiday :-D. Unfortunately, most of the time, it’s the former . When I started this blog on 27th March 2010, I was clue-less about the genre of my blog. Let’s just say that the gist of my blog are the day-to-day stories I picked up at work, at home, on holiday, networking with friends and most of all, my reminiscence of my childhood days growing up in Kuching. Every single post on my blog, including my cooking adventure, has that special story to share and BY THE WAY… is my catch phrase I used in my post ;-)

If you like reading my posts – my personal stories – please leave your thought(s) in the comment box. Your comment will be personally attended to by yours truly ;-)

Cheers!

Disclaimer -
The images and texts on this blog belong exclusively to the author, Nasifriet of
https://nasifriet.wordpress.com/, unless otherwise stated. All work on this blog cannot be used or reproduced without the prior consent of the author. Unfortunately, she has found several texts and ideas belonging to her reproduced on other blogs without her permission. The author requests for a pingback or link up to her blog in case of any reproduction, otherwise, it is an act of plagiarism. Give credit where credit is due

Out goes the Old, In comes the New – Reflections 2014

Every one receives a blank 365-page book each New Year. We are being “tested” for each single day. What and how we fill each page-day is totally up to us. Has it been a good day, bad and horrid day, memorable and magical? Sometimes people forget how much 365 days actually brings to their lives.

Reflections … 2014

My last 365 days had its ups and downs, but not akin to a roller coaster mode. Each leaf of the 365-day page had been mostly stable, but inspiring and illuminating at the same time. I’m blessed with being re-connected and rekindled with my family every single day via whatsApp. We exchanged silly and funny notes, awe-inspiring messages, sad and happy news, photos and videos. One video that puts a lump in my throat was the one, one of my sisters forwarded of little Shirley Temple (may she R.I.P) singing 2 Japanese songs, one of which brought sweet memories of my late Dad. Shirley Temple was his idol, a role model to every child in those days. Of all people, it was via Shirley Temple that my late Dad taught us “Kutsu ga Naru“.

My family is my pillar of strength and support. They will remain forever in my life.

And by the way, I have made new friends via the blogosphere, whom I have not even met in real life. I have enjoyed reading their blogs, but darn, I couldn’t leave a single comment on their blogs since I started using my tiny iPhone I received as a gift from hubs in early 2014. Our PC is frustratingly cum annoyingly unmanageable with its snail speed. Arghhh…! I have a laptop but it’s a company’s laptop and personal things are out of bounds. I noticed leaving comments from WordPress to Blogger is almost impossible via my iPhone. I want my blogger friends to know and understand why I have not left a comment of appreciation and enthusiasm on their blogs. I’m truly sorry. I wish it’s technically possible, or more so, I wish I’m tech-savvy.

Although I wish I could publish a post more frequently, some pages – in fact, many – in my Year Book, did not allow me to. That’s the downside part. I wish there’re more than 24 hours in a day, but that’s not meant to be. I had to balance work-life with equilibrium, but more often than not, the scales tipped.

On a different note, I have improved my cooking and baking (yes!) skills by leaps and bounds – at least I thought so, or want to think so 😉

I’ve mastered the art of cooking cakes in my traditional single-button Rice Cooker. By the way, my grand old lady is nearing 20 years old *wink*

I have challenged myself by participating in the many themed cooking challenges hosted by fellow bloggers around the globe. I have nothing to lose; instead I have gained friendship and confidence in my cooking.

Here are some of my sweet and savoury cooks and bakes I have shared in my blog the past 365 days.

I have become more mindful when presenting my dishes on the plate, as we often “eat with our eyes” 🙂

These Christmas and holiday meals for examples.

Sweet Rosy Surprise

By far the sweetest surprise of the year 2014 for me was getting reconnected with my Big Blue Marble friend. Yay!

Big Blue Marble was a half-hour children’s TV series. The name of the show referred to the appearance of Earth as a giant marble. In Malaysia we got to watch the reruns and as a pre-teen to my early teen years, that was my favourite TV series.

The best part about Big Blue Marble was the pen pal club. I wrote to BBM for a pen pal they matched me with, with whom I have been in contact for more than a decade, but sadly, we lost touch for more than two decades! It was the time when there were no such things as emails, whatsApp, Skype, or Internet! My pen pal lived thousands of miles away in a different continent and that meant putting my thoughts and stories on paper with a pen and folding the precious letter and tucked it in an envelope. And then my late Dad would drive me to the post office… and then the long waiting time. I was the happiest girl when I received my letter from the postman with the postmark “Sunnyvale, CA.” 😀

I’m glad I found my pen pal via my brother on Facebook this Summer 🙂

Words alone are not enough to express how happy I am to have found you!

Rose, definitely thumbs UP to our lost AND found friendship. I hope you had a fantastic birthday yesterday, and I wish you many happy and healthy birthdays to come! Hugs xxx

Oh by the way, who could not forget the theme song with a strong message within.

The earth’s a big blue marble when you see it from out there . . .
Closer, getting closer..
Perspectives start to change.
Things look a little strange, as we get closer.
Closer, growing closer
No need to be afraid
Our troubles start to fade, as we get closer.
Together is a word we must learn to understand, if we ever want to get to know each other better.
Together is a word that holds tomorrow in it’s hand,
Tomorrow’s just another day to get together, and…

Get closer, closer, closer…

Isn’t that a great message? It was then and it still is! It’s simply timeless!

Precious and Treasured and for Keeps

They are like rare stones in my treasure box. They make me go bonkers and gaga one day; they shine bright like diamonds and melt my heart the next. Sometimes I felt like chucking them out of the window but they are too precious. Yep, they are my precious “Gollums”. Lol!

My Year book with these two had been very challenging and inspiring. They are no longer little tots but young teens with curious grey matter. They are my BFF *big smile*

And to all who have lost a loved one, may God give you the comfort and peace that you seek and may the soul of your loved one rest in peace.

Let us all close our eyes, say a warm goodbye to the past 365 days. This year has come to an end and it will take away all the pain and mistakes. Thank God for everything that He has given us and ask for forgiveness for all our mistakes. Now a brand new beginning awaits us. Tomorrow is the first blank page of our 365-page book. Let’s use it wisely 😉

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.” ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets